Love is waiting...

I had a brief “God moment” in the car a few days ago. Brooke Fraser, one of my favorite Christian artists, was singing about love, and I was lamenting my lack of it (in the romantic sense). I sang along with the lyrics, allowing a selfish sadness to creep into my voice and my spirit as I harmonized with Brooke:

I’ll be waiting for you, baby

I’ll be holding back the darkest night

Love is waiting ‘til we’re ready

‘Til it’s right

Love is waiting

“Love is waiting…” Well, Brooke, waiting is hard. Frustrating, even. Full of distractions. Burdensome. Confusing. Painful. And, in my humanness, especially now, waiting is all of those things x 10. And I don’t feel like it. So there.

But I kept singing, as I’m wont to do when things hurt, and suddenly, it occurred to me what was coming out of my mouth: LOVE is waiting. Not “like,” or “good enough” or “right now.” LOVE. God’s best. Ordained, in His timing, meant-to-be, full of blessings, moving toward holiness – not happiness, two-shall-become-one LOVE is WAITING.

And you know what that makes love? Patient. And kind. Not envious or boastful. Not proud. Not rude or self-seeking or easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always PERSEVERES. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Love is WAITING. And if love - that which God is and exudes - is patient, then surely He in His perfection is worth waiting FOR, whatever our hearts’ desire. We, as Christ-followers, wait not for a husband, or a job, or a house, or anything tangible but for the LORD…for His confidence, His assurance, and His perfect peace.

That God would be so sweet to remind me what true love looks like – and that the wait is worth it – did much to soothe my tender spirit that night and in the days since then. What started out as a self-induced pity party on my drive home became a supernatural revelation through the Holy Spirit that God has already defined love. Indeed, He has demonstrated real love in its purest, truest form (John 3:16). So I need not worry about earthly companionship or the fulfillment of my selfish wants, however justified. My Creator in Heaven knows what I need before I even ask Him (Matthew 6:8) and has promised a hope and a future in Him (Jeremiah 29:11).

LOVE is patient. Always hopes. Always perseveres. Love never fails.

~

Romans 8:24-25 ~ Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 5:3-4 ~ Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Sprit, whom He has given us.

Romans 12:12 ~ Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

2 Peter 3:9 ~ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you…

Psalm 130:5-6 ~ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning.

~

MLH